Ring of Fire and Volcano Facts

Many people have one image of a volcano in their head: a big
mountain spewing lava. But where does the lava come from, and
why does it happen in the first place? Also, there are plenty of
other volcanoes that spew gas or ash, so not all volcanoes fit
that one image in our minds. Use some of these resources to
learn more about what a volcano is and how they impact us today.

What Are Volcanoes?

A volcano is typically a mountain or hill with an opening
where rock, gas, hot vapor, or lava erupts from the earth's
crust. Volcanoes can come in many shapes and sizes. They are
typically classified in five different ways: cinder cones,
composite cones, calderas, flood basalts, or shield volcanoes. A
shield volcano looks much less like the volcanoes we seen in
cartoons and movies. It typically looks more like a hill, with
long, gentle slopes (looking more like a shield on its side). On
the other hand, composite cones are tall, like ordinary
mountains, and are more likely to explode in large eruptions of
gas and ash. Famous volcanoes like Mount St. Helens and Mount
Vesuvius are in this category.

Believe it or not, the earth beneath our feet is moving and
shifting all of the time. Rather than being one solid thing, the
crust of the earth shifts on top of the earth's mantle, a layer
of super-hot liquid metals. Like sponges floating on top of
water, these plates move, slide, and bump into one another. We
don't feel it all of the time because it's happening on such a
big scale. This concept is called plate tectonics. When bits of
crust, or plates, bump into each other, sometimes it causes
earthquakes, but at other times it can cause volcanoes.
Super-hot lava from the mantle of the earth bubbles up to the
surface at soft points of the crust or certain places where the
plates meet. Over thousands of years, pressure builds under the
surface.

After those thousands of years, what causes them to finally
explode? Sometimes, an earthquake creates an opening in the
crust, but more often, gas bubbles inside simply increase the
pressure until finally the volcano erupts. Eruptions can be
explosive or non-explosive, with or without intense gases, and
some have a lot of ash, while others can lead to less ash. These
eruptions can happen frequently and with few bad consequences,
but sometimes they happen only once every few thousand years,
with major problems for humans as a result.

Volcanoes are all around the world, and they can be very,
very dangerous. However, we don't need to always be scared of
them. Many volcanoes are dormant, or in other words, they
haven't erupted in 10,000 years. Those that are active, or have
erupted since the last ice age, are typically monitored by
scientists. It should be something that we're aware of but not
constantly fearful of.

After learning about plate tectonics, students may hear a lot
about "the Ring of Fire." It's a term to describe one large
region around the Pacific Ocean. It's fairly active, as the
plate that it's on seems to move and grind against other plates
on a more regular basis. Due to that movement, which is
relatively quicker than that of other plates, the area
experiences a lot of earthquakes, tsunamis (or dangerously large
waves), and volcanoes. Hawaii and Japan are home to some of the
most famous volcanoes.

All in all, volcanoes are fun to study. Today, you can find
volcanoes across the world, from Japan to Alaska to Italy. Many
volcanoes are safe, and many are constantly monitored. Some of
them are so constantly monitored that you can watch live videos
on a regular basis. Check out some of these webcams to watch
volcanoes in action (or dormancy).